"We feel good about our numbers overall and the great strides we have made," Deputy Chief Sherry Jackson said. "As Huntsville has grown, we have adapted to cover increased geography and to forge stronger relationships with our citizens."

Jackson said the police department's new burglary and robbery units had a positive impact on reducing crime in 2012. Increased outreach efforts community resource officers, Crimestoppers, Neighborhood Watch and Neighborhood Associations have also helped encourage residents to report crime and to help solve crime, she said.

The statistics show homicide was up by 1 incident over 2011. Though the city has seen a recent uptick in homicides in 2013, HPD attributes the majority of these to drug-related activity, paralleling a national trend in the relationships between crime and drugs in general.

"Any homicide is one too many, and yet we know the majority of these are drug-related and contained within a fairly close network of individuals," Jackson said. "We are tackling this by refocusing our efforts toward street-level drug crimes."

There was an increase in assault activity numbers in 2012, which Jackson said had much to do with how Huntsville Police classify assaults. Here, the classification is much more inclusive than most cities, she said, and includes offenses such as a slap in the face.

The most noticeable jump in crime was in the rape category with an additional 21 cases reported.

"We have worked closely with Crisis Services of North Alabama and our community resource officers to encourage women who have been violated to report this crime," Jackson said. "Our message to offenders is simple - this community will not tolerate violence against women."

Jackson said police are thankful to still be heavily patrolling the streets, commending Mayor Tommy Battle for his support of public safety.